Fear not, gentle reader, this particular giant but – note singular ‘t’ – is the one most people are defaulting to right now and is another dreaded ‘B’ word…yep, Brexit.

Negotiations are much in the news today. I’m writing this ahead of watching PMQs because I have to as a business to business PR specialist.

There’s always an angle my clients can comment on so it is great fodder for me but my word it is depressing stuff.

I’ve lost count of the ways people have found to use Brexit as a ‘reason’ aka ‘excuse’ not to make decisions. Of course in certain situations that is absolutely correct and we’re balancing risk v reward.

However, people seem to have forgotten the REWARD part of the equation.

When it comes to investing in your marketing, I understand people being more cautious, nobody really knows what is coming down the road after Brexit but guess what…

Nobody REALLY knew before.

They rarely do.

The best marketers however do know that if they get X amount of enquiries they make Y amount of conversions and Z amount of sales.

They also know what that means in terms of profit.

So before you start lining up your buts, make sure you are basing your ‘reasons’ on sound marketing information, not just delaying because it appears safer.

Also, remember that if everyone else is doing the same thing, that gives you a HUGE opportunity to be seen and heard.

I will make you one peach of a guarantee with regards your sales if you do keep putting off decisions…

‘Don’t be evil’ a key part of Google’s Code of Conduct was quietly shelved back in 2018, probably due to the fact that suggesting it as a possibility hinted at likelihood of it occurring…

Anyway, they now work within a more vague ‘ethical business conduct’ guideline which is somewhat dull but does conjure fewer mental images of white cats and hidden lairs and informs their CSR efforts.

However, they aren’t just talking about NOT being evil, they are actively seeking to DO good as part of their extensive CSR campaign.

According to an article by Kevin Xu for Entrepreneur.com recently ‘Google.org — the company’s nonprofit arm — donates 1 percent of Google’s total equity and profits to charity. Recently, moreover, the initiative has furthered its efforts in that sphere by focusing on actions, not just investments.

Critically, they are getting their employees involved too, this ain’t all about the money folks.

Kevin goes on;

They will be able to spend up to six months offering their full-time expertise to nonprofits. In fact this year alone alone, Google will ‘deploy between 40 and 60 people to nonprofit offices in numerous cities, offering 50,000 hours of skilled labor in fields like computer engineering, data analysis and artificial intelligence.’

That is a HUGE effort.

Now most people reading this don’t have anywhere near the budgets or resource to divert to similar schemes but don’t worry about what you CAN’T do, look at what you COULD do.

You might raise funds for a charity directly or help them to raise funds by providing volunteers for instance. If you are expert in something, such as photography or video, could you help them get their message across that way?

I work with Forever Stars, the stillbirth and child bereavement charity and this year will be donating a percentage of my fees for each press release I write to them, whilst supporting their media efforts at the same time.

Within that, I will be profiling the businesses and people who help the charity with their free time, with events, fundraising, donations and in all manner of other ways.

If I came into your business right now, one of the first questions I would ask is what good causes you support or are thinking about supporting.

I do not do this to try and curry favour in the media, although it is a fantastic way to gain positive PR. I do it because it starts out as an internal marketing campaign, a way to create and foster a positive culture within an organisation.

So if you aren’t doing something already, have a think about what you could be doing or better still, ask your team. Someone will be hugely keen to support something and will most likely want to take the lead and run the project for you.

Your job is to give them the tools and resources to help them help others.

OK, so you’re not Liza BUT I’m about to save you a fortune on wasted marketing anyway.

All you need to do is find the holes in your bucket which sounds simple but after a number of similar different experiences in the last month, maybe it isn’t.

In the last month I have sourced quotes for a bathroom tiling project along with many other bits and bobs.

My wife and I scoured Trusted Trader, found some good reviews and asked for quotes. Two different people got back to us. Great marketing.

However, neither of them showed up.

What a waste of time, effort and marketing investment.

They’ve got zero chance of being asked to quote again and if a friend asked me for a recommendation I would tell them to run a mile. They had Facebook pages, not great but they were there.

We checked them. Again, that effort is totally wasted but they can’t blame their marketing for that.

Eventually we went old school and I checked the local Post Office window. We were in luck. I dropped a text to the chap and then and he replied immediately, even offering to come over there and then. On a Saturday.

Talk about impressed.

We arranged to meet on Monday. He was 10 minutes late which did worry me as he didn’t warn me of this which would have been courteous, never mind sensible for a trader seeking to quote for a job.

Anyway, he arrived and was very polite and professional. He even gave me ideas on how to save money rather than waste it. There’s a theme here folks.

We agreed to a schedule just after Christmas which was even more impressive, especially as he said he was starting a corporate job in the new year so wanted to get this done and dusted for us pronto.

Altogether now…’Oh it’s all gone quiet over there.’

Then it went a bit quiet.

Very quiet.

I chased him to check he was STILL coming over the next day. Silence and then…an excuse about family illness and that no, he couldn’t make it.

That’s fine. We’ve all been there and it is awful. I asked him for when he could pop over, it was only a day’s work according to him.

Silence again.

Well, it turns out he couldn’t make it at all and that he was starting his new job soon so he can’t do it now but he does have a mate who might be able to help.

If you think I was going to call his mate who ‘might’ be able to help you’d be wrong. I associate his mate with him and his professionalism, or lack thereof.

These things happen but all he had to do was to tell me proactively. Then I’d have been tempted to call his mate IF he had already set it up for me, which would have made sense.

‘Sorry Greg, I can’t but Gary is a specialist and I’ve briefed him. Same cost and he’s available to help you’.

I didn’t reply.

I have since gone out to a national outfit who have bigger marketing pockets and better systems. They actually paid NOTHING to get my work other than the investment in their branding over the years.

What a wasted opportunity for the local tradesman.

Now, just think to yourself before you invest in an awareness campaign, do you want the leads it might bring? Do you have capacity? Do you have the skills?

If you can’t, it is no problem at all. You can tweak your marketing message to make sure it fits your skills or hold back on your campaign until you can do the work.

Just don’t blame your marketing campaign if you don’t convert open goals and don’t pour marketing budgets into leaking buckets.

I am a member of a well known health club, which, due to its location, tends to include a fair few famous faces – typically footballers and cricketers but also a former undisputed super middle weight boxing champion.

He’s getting very good at tennis and has a volley with real venom.

This is because he’s decided he wants to be good at tennis and he practices.

A lot.

Now, I was in the gym yesterday doing some ‘on the business’ work, reflecting on the year and working out how I can be just that bit better again next year in my business and personal life.

I do this every quarter, examining current goals and setting new ones, bite-sized markers that help me to my bigger picture. This stuff really doesn’t work that well if you just do it on December 31st after a few too many sherries.

Anyway, this former champion was preparing to go onto court as I was setting my fitness and health goals and these include swimming.

There’s no time like the present I reasoned so I headed off to buy some snazzy new swimming shorts. New gear and gadgets always motivate me.

The problem was, the only shorts available were, well…a little ‘ambitious’ size wise. They were the shorts I should be wearing AFTER I have been swimming for about a month.

Maybe 2 months.

Here was a lovely excuse to not bother with the idea and put off the fitness goal for another day. Start in January, once I’m totally ready, with the correct shorts.

But I didn’t do that. I bought the shorts and went for a swim.

They weren’t THAT bad size wise, a bit of breath holding along the poolside catwalk would see me safely under the water with nobody any the wiser.

They were however pinching a tad and I knew I was pushing it a bit.

But that’s the point with goals. They are very easy to put off, to make too easy, to vaguely promise to start working towards in January once you’ve got everything perfect.

They are also far easier to attain if you have a visual cue, whether that’s a picture on the fridge, a sales brochure of a car or a house or some shorts that make you think twice about ordering pizza this evening.

Or ever again.

So as you reflect on 2018 and plan ahead for 2019, whether your goals are business related such as getting more press coverage (call Greg) or personal such as health and fitness, don’t be afraid if they pinch a bit.

Don’t put them off either. In fact, don’t wait until you get back in January, get a head start now.

Or do you? Are you just a little guilty of playing it too safe in your marketing?

You know by now I don’t like the John Lewis advert. I also cannot abide most musicals.

However, I do LOVE the range of ads out this Christmas that aren’t afraid to be a bit cheeky. To stand out. To show their personality.

As marketers and business owners we can learn a lot from these campaigns. Granted, it is horses for courses, I wouldn’t expect John Lewis to start parodying merrily, anymore than I’d expect to see Aldi spending mega bucks on something flashy but it does show where a sense of humour can come into play to great effect with your marketing.

Even John Lewis themselves have seen the funny side and joined in to show they are are good sports, which is of course is on brand for them.

I think there is a huge opportunity for smaller businesses to inject a bit more personality into their PR.

I primarily work with experts. I help them to show what they know.

The problem is, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of playing it too safe with your messaging and your tone. It is absolutely fine if that is your market and your market responds well to this but I can guarantee that it drives editors up the wall when they receive expert comment on a key topic and they all sound the same.

This means they will probably not get used – it is just noise.

That may be because they have been filtered through the marketing teams and then onto someone with good intentions of brand value protection but there is a balance to be had between playing it safe and frankly, being boring. The latter rarely make much headway in PR terms if they are competing with bigger brands for the same market with the same message and the same method.

A sense of humour helps you stand out. Don’t be afraid to try it when appropriate. This is from a man who sent 100 tins of Spam in the mail as part of a GDPR marketing campaign and as Elton said….I’m still standing.

I’ll admit this right from the start, I don’t really like the John Lewis ad.

I am clearly soulless.

Actually, it is great, it is warm, it is emotive but it’s just too ‘commercial’ for me, which sounds odd for an advert but it feels too much like a plug for Elton’s farewell tour.

Although it appears Sainsbury’s knows a thing or two about plugs too.

That said, I’ve already been in to buy a very expensive wreath for my front door so it hasn’t damaged my relationship with them.

However, what Lidl did in response with their #EltonJohnLewis parody was so utterly brilliant that it HAS started a relationship with them, from pretty much nowhere on my radar. The brands are poles apart but it just shows what can be done with a bit of fun, creativity and most of all, speed.

The ‘Lidl bit funny’ parody now ranks just ahead of my favourite social media campaign of the year, just pipping KFC’s ‘We’re sorry’ tweet during the great chicken crisis of February 2018.

There’s clearly something in the water this year as all of the big brands are getting in on it, ‘hijacking’ one another’s campaigns and riding on the exposure of their rivals.

It is superbly conceived and must be driving media buyers in marketing teams and agencies mad but you’ve gotta love it.

The question is, will it shift your brand loyalty, even if it is just a one percent rise in your approval or awareness?

After all the fairy dust has settled, that is what will win the day for the marketing teams.

The battle for hearts, minds and marketing budgets rages. Can’t we all just get along?

The answer of course is YES, if you integrate these specialisms they wield HUGE power for the marketing arsenal.

However, as with all weapons, they are dangerous in some hands.

Especially if you throw social media into the mix….

Can we get a backlink? A question I get asked by an increasing number of clients and understandably so. It is easy to measure and what gets measured, gets managed.

However, there is a reason why I never make promises about these slippery little links and it is this…it can REALLY RUIN all the hard work of getting them on board with you in the first place.

Check out the Twitter storm that raged last week when an SEO ‘guru’ and folk on his side of the debate kept on at Deidre Hipwell, the Retail and Mergers and Acquisitions Editor of The Times.

Read it, look at the impact short and long term and think about how carefully you need to play this game.

Hipwell pointed out that a journalist’s role isn’t to market the companies they report about and the aim of a news article is to provide readers with all of the information they require without linking to external sources.

As the Twitter war raged on, people rightly asked where it all ends because if you do it once, you have to do it for all or face accusations of bias.

There is also the concern that links AWAY from the website might jeapordise the commercial model of the media – look at how good Facebook is at keeping you on their platform as you surf about merrily.

Now, I could argue that if the article needs MORE info, that can be provided by a link to a specific page on the client’s website that ADDS VALUE but don’t start asking for or even demanding hyperlinks just because it suits your marketing objectives.

Good PR and media relations requires a delicate balance and a win/win mentality between the client and the media. That’s why PR experts are the people who should make these pitches to the press. They think Win/Win/Win.

I’m not saying an SEO expert shouldn’t contact them but if they do, they should wear a PR hat when they do it. There’s no point in getting close to a great piece of coverage and doing all that hard work just to scupper by annoying a journalist.

Also, how would you rate your chances of ever getting coverage from her/him again?

My tip is that there is no one size fits all when it comes to media relations and the preferences of journalists.

Some like a phone call, some hate it.

Some encourage a pitch via Twitter, some will find it incredibly rude.

Linkedin can be a great place to start for some but not for all.

Bottom line is it is all about horses for courses so be flexible and be strategic. PR is a long-term game, don’t lose goodwill over the loss of a link.

That was the opinion of Tory MP Johnny Mercer in the Telegraph earlier in October but not about the red poppy, this was about the white poppy.

Some might argue the same could be said about ‘attention seeking’ for anyone wearing any poppy or badge. The point is to draw attention to a cause.

I might add, I often wear charity-related pins and will be wearing the red poppy myself.

‘Hijacking’ though, that’s another story.

As with many things, especially with regards to public relations, it comes down to perception and the wider narrative. The more traditional red poppies began being used as a symbol in 1921 to help to remember those who fought in war.

The flower was chosen because it grows wild in many fields where some of the deadliest battles of World War One took place.

Mr Mercer is a former soldier and appears to have taken exception to the white poppy, which ‘represents all war casualties, regardless of alliance’.

They are endorsed and distributed by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) but according to Mr Mercer they are “attention-seeking rubbish” and he has called for people to “ignore” those wearing them.

Watching the breakfast news last week I noticed that all of the presenters and guests were wearing their poppies. I tend to watch Sky News in the morning as I prefer it for the business briefings versus the more light-hearted BBC offering. However, on switching over at the time I did have not see one of the BBC presenters wearing one.

Interesting.

Was this a calculated move by Sky? Was it a calculated move by the BBC? Perhaps it is a fluke that I looked at this at 8.30am and by 10am I would have seen a few Sky reporters sans poppy or even with a white poppy. Meanwhile by midday the entire crew on the BBC might well have been bedecked in red.

By the way, on flicking on the news channels right now on November 6th, EVERYONE is wearing a poppy and they are all red.

I mention this because a few years back, the brilliant Jon Snow over on Channel 4 described the backlash against him and others for not wearing one on air as a wave of ‘poppy facism’ – a highly charged choice of phrasing but an interesting one.

The PPU sells circa 100,000 white poppies a year and has reported that they may well exceed their record this year. Meanwhile, this year is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1 and the British Legion expect to sell 40m.

In the run up to Remembrance Day, I will work on at least 10 stories that picture clients, most of which will be using fresh photography for each story. Will I tell them to wear a poppy? No way.

Will I worry if they don’t? No, unless they wanted to and forgot it. It is their choice and either wearing one or not wearing one should not be part of the story unless that IS the story.

I have no doubt that for some, on both sides of the debate, wearing one or not will be the story. However, the fact that we can have the debate at all is what I will focus on.

At the time of writing, my original post on this issue has received over 7,000 views and over 30 comments so it appears to be resonating with many people.

What could possibly have vexed me so much and wound up so many others too?

Well, it was a pitch, over social media. A REALLY bad pitch.

TWICE.

I’d just had two ‘professional’ marketers ask to connect with me on Linkedin with standard intros – lazy. Then, IMMEDIATELY after I connected, they pitched me on Linkedin messenger with a standard copy and paste message.

Someone had clearly been on a training course. A bad one at that. So what went wrong?

Firstly, the etiquette is poor. I am not a HOT lead to be jumped on just because I accepted a request to connect.

Secondly, if you were that good, you wouldn’t pitch me within seconds with a standard message.

Thirdly, I now think less of the businesses these two ‘experts’ represent.

It is so tempting to look at LinkedIn as a source of leads and it can be brilliant but you need to earn the right to pitch your offering before you do.

Treat it like you would meeting someone in person. Unless you do it that way too when you network in real life, in which case, good luck.

Imagine a crowded room at a traditional networking event. You spot a group of people chatting away who you believe you might have things in common with or who you could learn from or help. If you were really good at this, you would have done some background research ahead of the event.

Now, you make your way to them, probably balancing a paper plate of dodgy sandwiches in one hand and a cup of coffee with a saucer in the other.

Top tip 1 – don’t bother with the saucer and extra teaspoon.

Top tip 2 – don’t have food in your hand..or worse still, your mouth.

Now, hopefully, you would be LISTENING to the group chat before you barged in, frantically waving your business card and waffling about your Value Proposition.

Hopefully.

Now you know what the conversation is, you might nod sagely at a few comments and smile at another observation. You will probably have been noticed and eased into the gathering by now. You might be able to add value to the conversation yourself. Go for it.

Just don’t pitch.

That is how you should look at social media. Treat it like a real party. Don’t just fling virtual business cards across the room. Join in. PS you can connect with me HERE on Linkedin, just a tip, don’t pitch me. YET.

I’ve said YES to Richard Branson and James Caan as you surely know by now but I’ve also said NO to many more, including Colonel Gaddafi.

OK, the kids from Grange Hill had the serious message of drug abuse to tackle, whilst I was checking my moral compass but at times we are all a little guilty of being too afraid to say no, especially when it comes to new clients or leads.

I had an email this week, out of the blue, asking for PR support. This is not that unusual but the timing was rather last minute and what they wanted isn’t really what we do.

In fact, it isn’t at all what we do.

They needed help publicising a local glamorous event.

Now, that isn’t the fault of the prospect, they had been advised to get in touch with me by another agency, which was rather nice of them. Thanks.

I knew that we could probably help, IF we had more time but I also knew that we were not the BEST FIT for them even if we did.

We would have done a good job but not a GREAT one by our standards and that isn’t what I want or what my prospect needed.

Confession

10 years ago, when I first set up Press For Attention PR I would probably have said YES. I would have found a way to find the time and resource to help in any way I could because frankly, I wanted the business.